Ferio Saxophone Quartet

Performers

Tonight, we are delighted to welcome to Hexham one of the best saxophone ensembles in Europe – the award-winning Ferio Saxophone Quartet.

Enthusiastically received wherever they play and praised for their innovative recordings, the talented and versatile quartet are one of the main driving forces behind the recent emergence of the saxophone as a distinctive voice in classical music. Their programmes are known for an unusually wide range of musical styles, whether arrangements of musical masterpieces or music they have commissioned themselves from contemporary composers to develop the saxophone quartet repertoire.

Tonight’s concert is no exception. It’s a great programme, combining arrangements of Handel’s Water Music, Elgar’s beautiful Serenade for Strings and Gershwin’s An American in Paris with works composed specifically for saxophone quartet by contemporary figures such as Hugo Reinhart and Guillermo Lago. My Mountain Top by the British saxophonist, composer and teacher extraordinaire, Andy Scott, completes the programme.

‘What a fabulous foursome; bar-raising musicianship and sound.’ – Music Web International 

‘Perhaps we should also use the word – breathtaking…’ – Quarterly Review

‘… the Ferios certainly have skill on their side, and every emotional hue you could want (…) smoky, honeyed, shrieking or sad.’ – BBC Music Magazine

Programme

Handel (arr. Iain Farrington)  Water Music (selection)

Handel (arr. Iain Farrington)  Sarabande (from Harpsichord Suite in D minor, HWV 437)

Elgar (arr. Ferio)  Serenade for Strings, op. 20

Hugo Reinhart Quartet in F minor for saxophone quartet (selection)

Gershwin (arr. Nigel Wood) An American in Paris

Andy Scott  My Mountain Top

Guillermo Lago  Ciudades (selection)

Watch

The Ferio Saxophone Quartet play a minuet from Handel’s Water Music –

…. and Sarajevo from Guillermo Lago’s Ciudades –